5 Common Mistakes You Can Avoid When Choosing Your First Web Hosting Provider

Choosing the right web host for your website is vital if you want to succeed in the online world. By choosing a poor web host, you run the risk of having a slow website, downtime, and a less than average experience for your visitors.

The saying goes to never jump into bed with a web host provider too soon, as this can have a massive impact on the future of your website. You don’t want to launch your website and find that, through poor research, you have chosen a web host provider that is going to cause you problem after problem. It’s a hassle, but it can easily be avoided if you know what to look for.

Throughout this article, we are going to tell you the five most common web host mistakes you should try to avoid at all costs.

5 Mistakes To Avoid When Choosing A Web Hosting

Mistake 1: Not Reading Host Reviews

When starting up a new website for the very first time, it’s easy to get carried away in the web hosting packages that sound perfect on the very first search. But the question to ask yourself is this – is the package right for me?

Many people jump at the first amazing package they find, and this is a mistake. In order to find out if the web hosting package, or web host themselves, are a good fit for you and your website’s needs, then you need to check out the reviews. Things to look for include:

How many customer complaints/appraisals are there?

How is the web host on speed? Is there much downtime?

How strong is the web host’s security? Have there been any problems with it?

While looking at them, it’s also important to distinguish poor or fake reviews out there. Most significant details of a dishonest review would include:

Overly positive comments which do not include any basis for their reasoning.

Badly written articles with incorrect grammar or broken code within a website.

Very short ‘benchmarks’ of hosts which do not have any explanations or real opinion.

While there are some bad review websites out there, here is an example of a well-written, comprehensive and data-driven review about A2 Hosting.

Another great place to read reviews is to research bloggers, businesses, or other websites that have had experience starting up a website with a provider, and see what their review was.

Mistake 2: Not Conducting Research

With more and more people or companies wanting to start up a website, the internet is full of web host providers that claim to be the best, but instead, have the simple goal of scamming you. It’s important, then, that you don’t just check out the reviews on these companies, but rather you find articles that compare the web hosting providers so that you can really source out your options.

Things you might look for include:

Best web hosting providers of the year

Best web hosting providers for beginners

Best web hosting providers for growth

Best web hosting providers for e-commerce websites

Best web hosting providers for fast websites

It’s important that you establish what goals you have for your website, whether that be traffic growth, affiliate marketing, an e-commerce store, or more. Take these goals in mind when researching through web hosting companies, and try to discover what the best ones are for your needs and your long-term goals if successful.

Mistake 3: Not Choosing the Right Price

For a beginner, and even someone who has been running a website for some time, pricing can be a little overwhelming when there is so much to offer at different rates. One mistake that a new website owner can make is not conducting proper research into the pricing of a web host provider.

For example, many companies advertise a monthly fee for providing their services, however, when you go to purchase the package, they actually ask you for the yearly fee.

Another pricing mistake that many make is overpricing on what they can afford and what they need. If you are a small business or blog, then choosing a lower plan might be better as opposed to a larger business that has a lot of traffic. Give yourself time to get established, you can always upgrade your plan later.

Mistake 4: Not Testing Out Customer Service

If you aren’t walking into building a website with confidence, then it all comes down to finding great customer service in your provider. A lot of first-time businesses or bloggers overlook this small detail as they are focused on getting their website up and running. But, when it comes to problems with your website, you will want a quick response from your web host provider, otherwise, you can be stuck waiting for hours, even days.

Before purchasing a web host package or plan, give them a message. Majority of providers have a 24/7 live chat, and when it comes to problems with your website, this is where you’ll probably head to the most. Compile a series of questions to ask them on their 24/7 chat, email, phone, etc about the services they will offer you if a problem arises or if you have an urgent question to ask them regarding your website.

Mistake 5: Signing Up for a Long Period of Time

As I stated above, many hosting companies try to trick you into signing a yearly plan. This is a big mistake for a first-time website owner. If you have no experience in running a website, then it isn’t recommended that you lock yourself into a yearly contract without the reassurance of success or experience. In some cases, it can be hard to get your money back if things don’t work out.

To begin with, it pays to choose a 3-month plan to get you started and off your feet. Get the feel of running a website and get to know your provider. If you don’t like them or your needs have changed, then you can always move to another one. This way, you aren’t locked into something you are trying to get out of. If you decide that everything is going great with your website and web host, then you can easily extend your current plan.

Mistakes are common when choosing a web host provider for the first time, but they can be avoidable. It’s an overwhelming process and decision, especially if you aren’t familiar with the providers that are out there on the internet. By keeping an eye out for the mistakes we’ve covered in this article, you are one step closer to creating a successful website.

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About The Author

Arpit Singh is a Digital Marketing consultant and a Passionate Blogger from Noida, India. He is also an Author and Trainer in the field of Digital Marketing. He blogs about digital marketing tips and tricks at his blog digitalseoguide.com. Learn more about him at About page.

Latest Comments

The pwinceNovember 27, 2017

you made a wonderful information up there, most of the web host now are just into money and care not about their customer, previously when I hosted my site pyradic on the first kick off a host, I was like been tired of blogging cox their response is decided if God come to touch them, and lot of issues which I face but now am glad to mention, Bluehost, siteground and domainking as the best which have been using.